Modern passenger automobiles, in particular vehicles of the van type, are increasingly equipped with side doors, which are installed in such a manner that they may be displaced between a closed position, in which they close the door opening, and an open position, in which they extend along the outside lateral face of the vehicle and expose the door opening (“sliding doors”). The essential reason for this is the small amount of lateral space required when opening the sliding doors, which allow the door opening to be completely exposed in particular even in tight parking spaces. Sliding doors thus allow more comfortable entry and exit of the passengers, as well as easier loading and unloading of the vehicle.
A lateral sliding door is typically connected to a vehicle using a multipurpose retainer displaceable in rails. The multipurpose retainer usually comprises an upper guide rail, which is situated proximally to the vehicle roof in the door opening, a lower guide rail, which is situated proximally to the door threshold area in the door opening, and a middle guide rail, which is situated in the side wall of the vehicle to the rear of the door opening approximately at waist height. The sliding door is connected to a carrier construction for this purpose, which engages in each of the guide rails so it is displaceable.
The carrier construction in turn comprises multiple assemblies assigned to the particular guide rails. These assemblies are each constructed from a support arm connected to the sliding door and a roll carrier connected to the support arm, having two rolls, for example, which is guided and retained by the guide rail so it is displaceable. The support arm is typically connected to the roll carrier approximately in a central position of the roll carrier, for example, between the two rolls.
If the largest possible door opening is to be available, a relatively long displacement path of the sliding door in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle along its lateral face is necessary, so that the middle guide rail usually extends up to the vehicle rear.
To avoid contact between the sliding door and the vehicle body upon displacement of the sliding door into its open position, until now rather box-shaped styling in a perspective view of the rear part of the motor vehicle has been necessary. In passenger automobiles, in particular of the van type, having a relatively large vehicle interior, such a design, which is similar to utility vehicles, is disadvantageous from commercial aspects.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable here to provide the vehicle with a drawn-in rear part, in which in the perspective frontal view of the vehicle, the two lateral faces of the vehicle curve toward the vehicle middle in its rear part, which provides the vehicle with a more elegant appearance in spite of a relatively large interior. In addition, other desirable objects, features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary, detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.